Umbrella 4C - Societal Impacts

UMB4C

The overarching aim of UMB4C is to evaluate the broader consequences of radiation events and show that effects go beyond the direct effects of radiation contamination, and incorporate a range of economic, societal, and ethical impacts. Evaluation of these aspects requires multidisciplinary approaches between natural and social scientists to understand and present the total societal challenges. It is hypothesized that economic and societal impacts are, in turn, influenced by the way the risks are perceived and communicated. Stakeholder dialogue is adopted as a particularly important method of risk communication, as it can facilitate multidisciplinary assessment of risks. While sensitivity analysis carried out in UMB4B provides information on which factors contribute the most to the overall uncertainties, cost-benefit analysis would inform what mitigating effort would be needed to counteract the foreseeing impact and risks.